Grammy Award nominees announced

Jay Z had the most nominations, and his album appears on a number of year-end best-of lists, but
the artist took a backseat to a couple virtual hip hop newcomers when the 56th annual Grammy Awards
were announced yesterday.

While Shawn Carter (a.k.a. Jay Z) grabbed 9 nominations, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and
Kendrick Lamar gave him 99 problems by taking the high-profile nominations that didn't include the
genre's icon. Jay Z's
Magna Carta...Holy Grail was passed over for album of the year in favor of Kendrick
Lamar's
Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis'
The Heist. Both acts were also nominated for best new artist. Taylor Swift, Daft Punk and
Sara Bareilles also were nominated in the category.

The major nominations included a record of the year nomination for
Get Lucky by Daft Punk and
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell, two songs blaring from car
stereos all summer. The popular
Royals by Lorde also was nominated.

Jay Z wasn't the only popular music mainstay to be passed over. While his only nod in a major
award category came in the form of his appearance on Lamar's album, Justin Timberlake was
nominated only in minor categories for best solo pop vocal performance (Mirrors) and best pop duo/group performance with (oddly enough) Jay Z.